US Senate blocks Iran war powers resolution in 49-50 vote

By: Rebecca Kheel

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said the Iran war has driven up costs for Americans, particularly at the gas pump. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

The Senate has again rejected advancing a measure that would direct President Donald Trump to end the war in Iran, a vote that comes as a brief respite in fighting appears to be over.

The Senate voted 49-50 on Thursday against discharging from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee a war powers resolution offered by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. The resolution would require Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from fighting against Iran unless specifically authorized by Congress.

As with some of the dozen past Iran war powers votes:

• Republican Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.), Susan Collins (Maine), and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) voted in favor of advancing the resolution.
• Democratic Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.) voted against it.
• Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who has voted both ways previously, this time voted against advancing the resolution.

Senate Democrats have forced near-weekly votes on similar measures since the war began in February. Just one — a nonbinding concurrent resolution — has cleared Congress.

Despite the mostly unsuccessful outcomes, Democrats contend that the repeated exercise still gets lawmakers on record about the war and raises pressure on Republicans as the conflict drags on.

“I ask my colleagues, how many more servicemembers will we lose, how many more billions of dollars must families pay at the pump, how many more empty promises must be made from an out of control administration before this body finally acts?” — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on the Senate floor Thursday. “Under the Constitution, we have the power to end this war today. Let’s use it.”

Escalation After Failed Ceasefire

After several weeks of intensified fighting following a failed ceasefire, the Trump administration said over the weekend it was again pausing strikes against Iran to make space for diplomacy.

However, on Tuesday night, U.S. Central Command reported that Iranian forces launched multiple ballistic missiles in “an attempted surprise attack on U.S. forces based in the Middle East.” All missiles were intercepted, according to Central Command.

The following morning, Trump told Fox News the United States would “beat the f—-ing s— out of” Iran in response to the attempted missile strike.

By Wednesday night, Central Command announced what it described as a “heavy wave of strikes” in retaliation. U.S. forces struck “dozens” of targets, including:

• Military command centers
• Missile and drone facilities
• Coastal surveillance and defense sites
• Maritime capabilities

Casualty Reporting Under Scrutiny

The vote also comes amid heightened scrutiny of the Pentagon’s accounting of war casualties.

In total:

• 18 servicemembers have been killed
• More than 600 have been wounded

However, last week, the department quietly updated its online casualty database so that four of those deaths and more than 200 of the injuries that occurred after July 7 are now categorized as undefined “overseas operations” rather than Operation Epic Fury, the Pentagon’s official name for the Iran war.

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